Derek: Captin's Log Week 13: Pelota y Fútbol Americano

Captin's Log Week 13: Pelota y Fútbol Americano

That the fullness of my gospel might be proclaimed 

by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the 

world, and before kings and rulers. (D&C 1:23)

This week was the DR's version of the World Series, and it was insane. It was the Águilas, my team, vs  Licey. It got insane, and I don't just mean the game. They were back and forth, all 7 games. And the Dominicans, of course used this as a reason to get drunk. So now picture this; a bunch of drunk, gangster Dominicans with nothing better to do then take baseball way to seriously. Every street we walked on this week all had 20- 40 Dominicans standing in the street watching the games at the comadas. There were always arguments, and literal fights. Most were with their fists, but some used upgrades, like sticks. That was super crazy but what was worse was after the last game. We were on our way home from a member’s house when the Aguilas won, and of course the the other team didn't have a chance. There where people crying on the streets, other people were driving their motorcycles around with things tied to the back. My comp got hit by this plastic blue chair that was tied to a motorcycle. It was practically a riot, not really, but practically.

Ok now to the good stuff. We have 5 fechas, or baptism dates, planned. We have 4 for the 24th of this month and 1 for the 10th of March.  The investigators for the 24th are; Gaberela, Cealingy (her daughter), And Germany (her friend). They where planning on getting baptized a few weeks ago but needed more time. So we worked with them to help them read. But they are not reading on their own or attending church. Next we have Eliangy. She is this young girl. I really like her. She always reads more then we asked, attends church and even goes to seminary even though she isn't even old enough yet. We are trying to teach her family too, but the parents can't get baptized until they are married. Then for the 10th we have Rafael. He is a 17 year old kid who attends church and seminary regularly for the last 3 weeks. We asked him to be baptized on the first lesson. He is super cool and I just found out he has a twin brother. I want to try teaching his brother too, because being a twin I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have the Gospel in my life and if Dylan didn't.

We plan on leaving some more fechas this week, including Yalianny for the 24th. She wanted to get baptized a few weeks ago, but her mom made her back out. She said it was because the mom was out of town that day, but we haven't been able to talk to her mom yet. Then the 10th. We all also going to leave a fecha tomorrow with the mystical Dorisbell. Apparently she is a really good investigator but I wouldn't know. She has been on vacation every since I’ve been here, but DK she is going to be back in town tonight. We also plan on leaving one with Gercalda, the aunt of Germany. She reads every thing we give her and likes it a lot but hasn't attended church yet. We also plan to give one to the sister of Karen and Kathy, the girls we just baptized. She seems excited; she told her sisters that she wanted to learn from us. She doesn't live with Katy and Karen, but with their mom. The lesson we had with her was crazy because the mom has 7 little kids, and of course isn't married. It was super hard to feel the spirit in the lesson because the kids were freaking crazy. Picture this; I'm in the middle of reciting the first vision by memory and the youngest kid, who was wearing nothing but green underwear, goes up to his brother and pees on his leg. It was freaking insane. So my comp and I came up with this great idea of teaching her at Karen and Kathy's house. Then we want to leave one with Alexis, but his is more of a long term goal. He has had almost all the lessons, believes, and attends church but he isn't married. He lives with his girlfriend but they can't get married until she gets divorced first. She said she wants  to but marriage is expensive and divorce is double so. My Comp wants to leave a fecha for early July, which is right before he gets home. This is good because it gives them a good time limit to work for. 

So last night was the Super Bowl. My comp made plans with some rich members in the ward to go to their house all day with the Zone leaders, and 2 other missionaries, to play pool all day and then watch the Super Bowl. I told him that if he wanted to watch it I wouldn't stop him but I wasn't about to waste a whole day of work to watch the Super Bowl. Plus have never watched the Super Bowl because it was on Sunday, and I wasn't going to start on my mission. So right after church I made him drop me of with other elders so I can work and the Zone leaders were his companion for yesterday and today. I am currently in a trio right now but I'll be back in Villa really soon. 

Also this week was transfers. My district got the one new white kid in the mission. I ran into him at the MTC the day I broke my glasses. He seems cool and looks like a really hard worker so that's great. We also got this one kid I met at the botanical garden that I thought was cool so this is good. 

I also bought a zipper tie this week that everyone is jealous about so that's pretty cool.

Elder VanBuskirk